What To Do If You're Struggling to Grow Your Business

by Sydni Craig-Hart

Whether or not you are a person who makes New Year's resolutions, one thing is for sure. You'd like your business to be more profitable and more successful than last year. As entrepreneurs, we all want to be progressive and accomplish our goals.

It takes more than good intentions to do that. Success as a small business owner requires that we be willing to make adjustments, work through challenges and improve our habits. For many, the new year provides an opportunity for a fresh start. So how do you ensure that you follow-through on your good intentions and achieve your goals?Here's how:

Commit to building better habits - Make the decision to identify and act on your marketing priorities EACH day. Tomorrow you will be gifted 24 hours. Let's say 8 of those are dedicated to your business. How will you spend them? Will you give in to distraction or focus on ONLY your priority tasks. Will you allow email, the Internet, unimportant tasks, phone calls or other distractions to consume your day? Or instead can you, WILL YOU, take complete responsibility for how you choose to spend your time? Of course there will be things that pop up that are out of your control. Even so, you can still take control of your time and choose to focus on taking the necessary action to grow your business.

Stay in your POWER zone - Perhaps you are great at networking, but the thought of writing a blog post or an article makes your head hurt. Maybe it's the other way around. You love to write but you'd rather eat nails than go to a networking event. If you are looking for a quick way to jumpstart your marketing efforts and increase your profits, focus on these three things:

What you enjoy doing

What you're good at doing

What has generated the best results

That's IT! If you aren't too excited about a particular marketing strategy, don't force it! Trying to convince yourself to do it creates unnecessary pressure and drains your energy, which guarantees that the strategy won't work well anyway. Instead, strive to ENJOY (wow, what novel idea!) growing your business and focus on the things you do best.

Ditch your "superhero" cape and get some help! - A lot of entrepreneurs find a sense of satisfaction in being a business martyr. If you have ever found yourself thinking:

"If I want it done right, I have to do it myself!"
"If it's not hard, it must not be right!"
"If I'm struggling, I must be on the right track..."
...Or something similar.

You may be guilty of trying to be a business martyr. I have one thing to say to you about that. STOP! :)

There is no glory in making your journey more difficult than necessary. And there is no shame in reaching out for help. It's simply what smart entrepreneurs do.

Have you been working solo for a while and find that you consistently don't have enough hours in the day to get through your task list? Hire an assistant.

Are you not sure what step to take next to get more clients and increase your profits? Hire a coach!

Did you have a coach before, and then decide you could "do it" on your own, but now find yourself floundering? Hire a coach ... again!

Investing in yourself is the BEST investment you can make. It's guaranteed to pay off. How much more would you get done if you had someone truly holding your feet to the fire and guiding you by the hand? Wouldn't you be more focused and less distracted? What kind of affect do you think THAT would have on your bottom line? Choose today to leave the excuses behind, and reach out for the help you need. It's the one thing that all successful entrepreneurs have in common, so come join the club!

Achieving more success in your business doesn't necessarily require a massive overhaul. By taking charge of your time, focusing on what you enjoy doing to market your business and getting help where and when you need it, you'll get further than you've ever thought possible! Isn't it time to end the struggle and start thriving in your business? Yes, I think so too!

What first step will you take to break through your current marketing struggles? Share your thoughts with me on the blog!YOUR "TAKE ACTION" PLAN FOR THIS WEEK:

Take control of your time - Plan out your work days so you know exactly what you'll be doing and when. Minimize distractions by only checking your email at specific times each day and turning off your phone when it's time to focus on your work. Tackle one project at a time and resist the urge to multi-task.

Make a list of what you enjoy doing to market your business. Plan out time each day to work "in your power zone."

Get help in your business in the one area where you need help the most. If you are struggling to get everything done each day, hire an assistant. If you need direction and accountability, hire a coach. Invest in yourself to make sure the important, profit generating tasks in your business are being handled properly.

Sydni Craig-Hart, The Smart Simple Marketing Coach, is founder of SmartSimpleMarketing.com. Known for her easy, strategic and results-focused approach to marketing, she also has the unique ability to find untapped profit centers in her client's businesses so they can create money NOW. Visit www.SmartSimpleMarketing.com for your FREE training course, "5 Simple Steps to More Clients, More Visibility and More Freedom" and apply for a FREE "Profit Breakthrough" session with Sydni!